


Bedroom Hymns

by wildirish



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Anal Play, F/M, Light BDSM, Oral Sex, Sex Toys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-05-16 12:27:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5828968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildirish/pseuds/wildirish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie is a certified genius who excels at everything. Except in the bedroom. She’s been made to feel wholly inadequate by a host of unsatisfied ex-lovers and she wants to change it. Charlie believes it’s a matter of having the right teacher to fix her shortcomings. She seeks out help from the one person she feels she can trust with such an intimate task--Bass Monroe, a legendary ladies man. If anyone can turn her into a seductress it’ll be him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**BEDROOM HYMNS**

**Disclaimer: _Revolution_ is not mine. I'm really, really taking liberties here. **

**A/N:** I didn't want to post this until it was all done. Chapter 5 is being a big pain, but I figured I'd tortured people interested long enough. Hopefully the muse will give me the ending I want. 

* * *

 

_ _

 

_The feel of Bass’ lips trailing open mouthed kisses down her neck had the immediate reaction of sending shivers up her spine. Charlie’s lips still tingled from their kiss…their first kiss. For all she was certain, it might as well have been her first kiss altogether. Heat had flooded her body and thoughts had vanished; she had started to feel lightheaded and short of breath long before her lungs ever wept for air. Charlie Matheson had never had so sexual or sensual experience in her life, including intercourse._

_Yet all this from a kiss. A simple kiss. Though it hardly felt simple._

_Charlie very much started to wonder if her plan was going to backfire on her. How in the world could she have imagined that Bass could inspire such feelings and reactions in her when she’d never once known herself capable of any of it? She had thought it nothing more than a lecture, or rather a practical lesson really, focusing on sex. She was bad at it. More than one lover had told her which had gone to pattern. Charlie Matheson was a woman used to applying her brain to the solution of problems._

_She highlighted the problem. Her inadequacy in the bedroom._

_She formulated a series of probable solutions and eliminated them until she came to the one most likely to work._

_She had asked Bass to become her lover and her teacher._

_There would be, of course, a mutual exclusion of emotions. This wasn’t about love or anything. It was about finding out what she lacked that sent men not only from her bedroom but her life._

_Of course not one of them had ever sent her head spinning by the mere flick and lick of their tongue on her hardened nipples like Bass was doing at the moment._

_That of course meant she hadn’t been applying herself properly to their experiences. In this moment, Charlie was completely involved in her time with Bass. Her mind wasn’t drifting at any moment to the quandary she was facing in her work when a particular algorithm failed to yield her desired results. How in the hell could she think of anything at all when Bass’ fingertips were digging into her hips as he pulled her in closer to him?_

_Instinctively Charlie opened her legs more to accept him closer to her body. In this moment she wanted nothing to separate them and soon they weren’t as his long, thick cock pierced her dripping folds and sheathed itself in her aching heat._

_In her whole life Charlie had never felt as full as she did in this moment. No lover had ever touched her deeper and it neared on painful but Bass’ skill as a lover made sure that she was comfortable before he ever started to thrust hard. But when she felt his hips piston sharply into her, it was like every downward thrust pushed the air out of her lungs as stars exploded behind her eyes as he brushed against that elusive spot. He unrelentingly taunted it, angling her hips higher to make it easier. She unconsciously helped him by wrapping her legs high around his back._

_Bass’ guttural groans that he kept low somehow echoed loudly inside her hollowed mind. It was as if her thoughts had evacuated with the single purpose: to make sure that every soft groan and every harsh breath he released near her ear and feathered across her skin would have the space to dance across her mind’s empty plain until they could mate with her memory. Left there to echo long after the moment was gone._

_Every thrust felt like Bass was driving her closer to a precipice. She hanged there gloriously, painfully until a soft brush of a coarse fingertip over a hardened, bundle of nerves sent her flying. If it was death, Charlie would gladly be reborn to die again and again._

_How could she have ever thought that this was a bad idea?_

_Nothing had ever felt like this—had ever made her feel like this before._

_The moment she had gone to Bass for help was proving to be the best decision she’d ever made._

* * *

 

“I’m not taking your virginity, Charlie.” Bass was dead serious. His blue eyes were like steel.

Charlie scoffed. “You have a listening problem? I said I wasn’t a virgin. I’m just…I’ve been told that I’m not the best in bed. I want to change that.”

Bass thought about her ice queen of a mother and thought that apple probably hadn’t fallen too far from the rotting tree. Rachel was always a bitch. How she managed to get both Matheson brothers all twisty was absolutely beyond him.

“And you think I can help you with that how?” Bass said. He took a sip of his coffee and wished that he didn’t have to go into work so that he could spike it with some nice whiskey. Seriously: Who bombards someone with this kind of kinky request before the first cup of coffee has had time to replace the blood in his veins?

“I’m not stupid, Bass. I’ve heard about you.” Charlie leaned in and lowered her voice though they were completely alone in his penthouse. “I know about your extracurricular activities.”

“Extracurricular activities?” Bass repeated with derision. “Christ, Charlie. No wonder you’re a stiff in bed. You can’t leave the academia in the classroom for a second can you?”

Charlie sniffed. “It’s not my fault I was born with superior intellect.” The truth was the classroom was where she felt safest. She was there with a purpose: to learn and she trusted her teachers to impart upon her their knowledge. She demonstrated whether or not she understood their points and they graded her accordingly. It was straightforward. Relationships were the bane of her existence. Why for the love of a God did people have to have so many conflicting intentions and expectations? _It was exhausting._

“Yeah but the bedroom isn’t about reciting facts—”

“But apparently you’re still being graded there,” Charlie said defensively.

Bass paused. He looked at Charlie. She was fidgeting with the button on her pea coat. Charlie didn’t fidget. She had a hard time looking him in the eye. Charlie was as direct as they come. But she couldn’t call sex: sex. She was embarrassed. Charlie rarely paid enough attention to social conventions long enough to know whether or not she had committed a gaffe.

She was hurt. Charlie had been ridiculed by someone enough to send her normal, unimpeachable-self reeling for help. Charlie had always been slightly aloof but she’d never been cruel. She’d been born with a big brain in a small body—outpacing her peers by leaps and bounds.

Bass felt a low-level burn in him as he thought about the kind of callousness she must have faced to hurt her enough to seek help. And of course she would do it in the only way she knew how: By asking to be taught.

“Charlie, I’m flattered but I’m not entirely sure that given our relationship we should do…what you are suggesting we do,” Bass stammered. Damn it. Now _he_ was embarrassed.

“Relationship?” Charlie repeated.

“Yeah. I’m best friends with your uncle and I grew up with your father.”

“But you’re neither my uncle nor my father.” Charlie pointed out.

“That’s true. But I certainly watched you grow up and that will certainly make things awkward,” Bass elaborated.

“You’re not physically attracted to me,” Charlie surmised. She let a small huff of a breath like the wind had left her sails.

“You are a beautiful woman, Charlie,” Bass was quick to say.

“Just not beautiful enough,” Charlie interjected. She nodded as if that was understandable. “I get that. I’m not attractive enough. I’m not smart enough. I’m not adventurous enough. I’m not expressive enough. The long and the short of it is that I’m simply not enough. I’m not good enough.”

She gave another quick nod and said no more. She gathered up her large burgundy colored handbag and turned towards the door to the penthouse. Sex would just be another thing on a list that she hadn’t mastered. Charlie wasn’t sure why she kept trying. No matter how hard she tried there was something lacking in her. Something inside of her that kept her from meeting people’s expectations.

“Charlie. Wait.” Bass called out.

“No, it’s alright, Bass,” she said contritely. “Let’s just forget all about this.”

“I don’t want to forget,” Bass told her.

Charlie’s hand paused over the chrome door handle. “What are you saying?” She couldn’t bear to turn to look at him so she addressed the door.

“I mean…I’ll do it,” Bass said. “I’ll help you.”

Charlie turned slowly towards him. “You will?” It was clear she was skeptical.

“Yes.”

“No.”

“What?” Bass asked confused.

“I’m not looking for pity,” Charlie said. “I just wanted someone to help me who wouldn’t humiliate me. But you’re not attracted to me and that’ll just make things more awkward.” That was no small blow to her ego. Charlie had long found her Uncle Miles’ friend to be very alluring. How humbling to learn that he’d never looked at her that way ever—and not simply because he still thought of her as a kid.

“Charlie, I am attracted to you,” Bass confessed.

“But you said…” Now it was Charlie’s turn to be nonplussed.

“I said it would make things awkward because of our associations with Miles,” Bass said. “You assumed it meant that I don’t find you attractive. I have eyes, Charlie. I’ve seen what a beautiful young woman you’ve grown into. But that was the extent of it. I never let the thought go any further than that. It wouldn’t have been right.”

“Now it is?” Charlie queried.

“I’m not saying it won’t take some adjusting but since you brought it up to me I feel a little less like I’m taking advantage of you somehow,” Bass explained.

“Do you think I’m taking advantage of you?” Charlie wondered.

Bass shook his head. “I think you’re asking for help in the safest place you can think of.”

“I don’t want this to ruin things between us. I still want us to be able to be around each other with the family and everything,” Charlie confessed.

Bass nodded his head. “Me too. That’s why we’re going to set some parameters.”

“Such as?”

“We’ll only have five sessions together,” Bass stated. “I don’t expect us to be robots around each other but we’ll need to keep it…”

“Free of emotions,” Charlie filled in.

“We care about each other but that’s a separate thing. We can’t let emotions get tangled up in this or it makes how we handle being around each other afterwards harder to stay normal,” Bass said.

“I get it. It’s like an experiment. You can’t get attached to the subject because it can influence your results,” Charlie said. “I can agree to that.”

“Good. I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to be a jerk.”

“No. It’s a good idea. I really want us to be as we were when it’s over,” Charlie agreed easily.

“Okay. So no romantic entanglements. It’s not about falling in love with each other but about you learning about who you are as a woman,” Bass outlined.

“Anything else besides a time limit and emotional limitations?” Charlie queried.

“You’ll have to trust me even if you don’t want to,” Bass said. “You’ll have to trust that I have your best interest in mind.”

Charlie nodded. That was going to be the hardest rule of all to follow but she’d asked for help and they’d come this far. She’d be a coward if she turned back at this point.

“But do I get a say if something goes too far? Can I say no?” Charlie wondered.

“Yes,” Bass said quickly and resolutely. “You will always have the chance to say ‘Stop.’ But you might also say it and not mean it. It’ll be up to me to determine whether you mean it or not.”

“When would we do this?” Charlie asked. “And where?”

“I think we should only have sessions once a week. Either a Friday or a Saturday depending on our schedules,” Bass suggested. “And I think to keep things...neutral…we should probably meet at a hotel. Not being in either of our bedrooms makes it safer.”

Charlie nodded. “Those are all acceptable terms. I’m not sure what kind of hotel room you want but if you reserve the room, I will pay for it.”

“That’s not necessary,” Bass disputed.

“It is. I’m asking for your help. We aren’t having a romantic affair. It’s a five week seminar on turning me into a better lover. I’ll pay for the room,” Charlie said. “I can afford it. It’s non-negotiable.”

Bass huffed out a breath. “Fine. I think you are being ridiculous.”

“Well then the only other option is let me pay you for the lessons,” Charlie offered. “But I was hoping not to do that because I didn’t want to treat you like some sort of gigolo or put myself in the position of having hired one.”

Though that had been her first thought when she’d decided to try to fix her shortcomings in the bedroom. But when it came time to calling for one she’d been so mortified to admit to a perfect stranger that she was lousy. Then she’d thought of Bass and how hopefully his affection for her would prevent him from being cruel. So maybe she was taking advantage of him but she’d find a way to make it up to him. She’d abide by his rules—all of which were logical—and she would foot the bill for the entire “seminar.”

Bass’ jaw tensed. “You aren’t paying me to sleep with you.”

“Agreed.” Charlie said. “I’ll pay for our accommodations and anything else we need while conducting our…experiment.” And it really felt like an experiment. Charlie knew the outcome she was hoping for but she also knew that it was just as likely that she was too broken for Bass to fix. “I have one more condition.”

Bass sighed before asking what it was.

“That if the outcome is that you can’t teach me to be a better lover then we don’t resent each other for it,” Charlie told him. “It’s quite possible that I’m not a sexually compatible partner at all and I don’t want you to resent me for it.”

Bass had some serious doubts about her incompatibly as a lover. If she was as indifferent as it sounded like in the bedroom there was no way she’d have risked rejection and humiliation by coming over to his house before eight in the morning asking for help. Bass suspected that there was a very sexual person inside of Charlie but years of being at odds with people around her—either too young or too mentally superior—made her awkward and unsure. It was obvious that despite her brilliance Charlie suffered from low self-confidence.

Bass struck his hand out. “Deal. Same goes for you.”

“We have an agreement,” Charlie returned his handshake. “So when do we begin?”

“This weekend. I’ll book a hotel room and send you the details,” Bass told her.

“Sounds good.” She reached inside her purse and handed him her credit card. “Use this when booking the room.”

Bass begrudgingly took the card from her and looked at it with disgust. Charlie ignored him and turned back towards the door. He stopped her again. “Oh and Charlie bring any toys you have.”

* * *

 

The door clicked shut behind them as they entered the hotel room Bass has reserved for them. He had picked a nice room in the Waldorf Astoria. It featured a fireplace and two deep seated armchairs. There was a large flat screen TV above the mantel. The room’s décor was done in black and white. Of course the large bed drew Charlie’s eyes most of all. It was the reason they were here after all. It surprised her how luxurious Bass made their accommodations. They could have done these lessons just as easily in a small motel room.

The opulence was a bit disconcerting. Not because she worried about the cost on her charge card—she could more than cover the cost based on the money she’d earned selling her patents since she was eighteen on things she’d developed. No. This was a place you’d take someone to seduce them but she didn’t need to be seduced. She needed to learn how to be a seducer.

“Wow, Bass. I wasn’t expecting…all of this,” Charlie finished lamely.

He shrugged a shoulder. “I figured everything would probably be a little awkward without making it worse wondering if there were cockroaches under the bed or when the last time the sheets had been washed. We will be taken care of here—anything we need can be brought to us through room service,” Bass explained. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to run the risk of seeing anyone we may know while we are…”

“Lecturing,” she said with a sly grin.

Bass snickered. “Yeah.”

“It’s nice, Bass. Thank you,” Charlie said. She’d never been given this kind of consideration with her lovers. It was a strange word. It didn’t apply to Bass but it soon would—but not really. Yes, in the strictest sense but not in an emotional one. They had made that rule abundantly clear.

Bass gave a short nod to her appreciation. Now that they were in the room, suddenly the walls felt too close. Had someone spiked the room’s thermostat to “roast over an open fire”?

“So…um, how should we begin?” Charlie asked when silence lingered over them.

Bass knew he was supposed to be teaching her how to be a better lover but suddenly he felt like a fumbling virgin. Could he really bring himself to kiss and undress and have sex with Charlotte Matheson? He’d known the girl nearly her whole life. God he was probably going to go to hell for this. Why the hell had he agreed to this?

His memory flashed of Charlie standing uncomfortably and so unlike Charlie in every way asking for help. He had seen the pain that lingered along the gorgeous planes of her face. He had noticed the resigned understanding that she was undesirable in every way.

“I could eat. How about we order some room service first?” He inquired.

“Yes, that would be lovely,” Charlie said. She’d been stuck in her office all day and had to skip lunch. She had in fact been late to their rendezvous. Ever the gentleman, Bass had waited for her in the lobby so they could ascend to their hotel room together.

It was nearly two hours later when Charlie checked the time. They had enjoyed a dinner of poached salmon, wild rice and steamed asparagus. They had demolished a fabulous bottle of Chardonnay. Most of all they had exchanged a nice conversation that never ventured towards their true purpose but had been lovely in its distraction. “We should probably…you know…begin…” Charlie said when she noted the time.

Bass nodded and stood up. He reached out a hand and pulled her from her cushioned dining chair. They had sat together at the small table in the room, next to the large windows that overlooked the charming Chicago landscape. He led them both across the room to the large bed. Both were wearing their work clothes—his a suit for his job as a security company CEO—and hers a fitted but sensible business suit. But his eyes noted the way the pencil skirt hugged her glorious hips and butt in the perfect way. For being stuck in a lab or classroom or office for much of her life, Charlie’s body was nice.

“Kiss me.”

Charlie’s surprise danced across her face. But he figured she would appreciate the direct approach instead of dragging them slowly into the deep end. He watched a gulp dance down her throat as she attempted to swallow her nerves. The act was oddly appealing and it shot heat down his spine. She began to lean forward, bending her toes for more leverage and paused as if she wasn’t sure if she should proceed. He bent forward to meet her a little and held. The first step had to be hers.

Tentatively Charlie pressed her lips to him. There wasn’t anything particularly erotic about the act. Her lips were closed and it was practically chaste. He didn’t respond. Charlie noticed and pulled back, rejected. She looked up at him and stared into his icy blues. But she didn’t see disdain on his face. She saw a challenge.

She answered the gauntlet thrown. She returned her lips to his. Her lips were still closed at first until they slowly opened. She didn’t attempt to breach his mouth with her tongue but she moved her lips over his. She pulled his bottom lip into her mouth and sucked on it softly and she cracked his resolve. He let slip a moan and his hands rose to her hips to pull her closer to his body. Encouraged she pressed her tongue across his abused lower lip and his mouth fell open at the caress. His tongue shot out to touch hers.

It was like a pit of fire had erupted in her stomach. She reached her own hands up and grabbed the lapels of his shirt. One of his hands moved up her back to snake in her hair, pulling her in closer to him. She felt his hardening member.

Charlotte Matheson had aroused Bass Monroe.

She couldn’t resist the smile her lips took on even as she continued to plunder and be plundered by Bass’ mouth. It gave her the courage necessary to begin unbuttoning his shirt. She never even noticed that her hands were trembling. When she released the final button, she pulled open the shirt and slowly brushed her fingertips across the rock hard span of his abdomen.

Bass was surprised by the feelings roiling inside of him. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told Charlie that he’d known her to be a beautiful woman. But it had also been true that he’d never given it much more thought than that. Yes he was a guy and it never stopped him from noticing Charlie the times they met up for one reason or another, but he never let it take root. Now the feel of her lips on his and her body under his hands was imprinted on his brain. He knew they’d promised to go back to the way things were after their sessions were over but he didn’t see how it ever could.

Bass Monroe would never forget what it meant to kiss Charlie Matheson. To undress her and see her stunning body standing nude before him. The way her fingertips brushed his flesh as she undressed him in turn.

* * *

 **A/N 2:** The chapters will get a little more explicit as they progress. I will add tags accordingly. Thanks for reading. Comments are welcome! 


	2. Chapter 2

**BEDROOM HYMNS**

**Disclaimer:** _Revolution_ is not mine. 

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who read and commented last week. I appreciate the positive feedback. :) 

* * *

 

Of all the bad ideas in his life, Bass Monroe was pretty sure that sleeping with Charlie Matheson was the top of the list. Not because the experience had been awkward or bad—but for the exact opposite. He simply could not get her out of his head. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

It was supposed to be clinical. She had come to him asking for help in how to become a better lover because apparently her previous partners had all been underwhelmed by her performance in the bedroom. There was one thing that Bass knew unequivocally—even more so than that sleeping with Charlie was a mistake:

Charlie’s previous lovers were all fucking idiots.

Her inexperience had been noticeable but Bass wondered if that hadn’t been more nerves than anything. Charlie had been embarrassed by ex-lovers and she was probably gun-shy about every move she made. When she’d unbuttoned his shirt her hands had trembled. But it hadn’t been a turnoff but a turn on instead. It wasn’t her fear but her courage that had sent liquid fire coursing through his veins. Because her hands may have trembled, but they never ceased releasing button after button.

Now it was a week later and Bass was supposed to meet her in their room—the same one. Bass had the foresight to book it in advance each week. But now he lacked the courage to drive himself over to the hotel. Yet he knew he couldn’t stand her up. She was already so emotionally fragile after her former lovers had humiliated her. If he didn’t show, Charlie would take it personally. Bass was very afraid it would break her and she would never seek out a physical relationship again.

It was quite a burden on him. But damned if he didn’t want to find an excuse not to show up. The amount of pleasure Bass had derived from their night together—they’d coupled two more times after that first. Bass kept waiting to experience all the issues Charlie claimed to have. But she was very responsive; she never failed to touch or ask for more of something she enjoyed.

Bass reminded himself that he had done two tours overseas, been shot at and survived IED explosions. He could man-the-fuck-up and meet Charlie at the Waldorf. He sent her a quick text saying he would be a little late and not to wait for him in the lobby but to go to their room. Charlie had promptly replied that she would wait for him as she was already on her way.

Close to an hour later, Bass stood outside room 402. He actually wondered if he should knock or use his key card. On his way over, Bass had come up with a “battle plan” for how to handle this week’s session. They wouldn’t repeat last week. In fact, Bass had sworn to himself that he wouldn’t bury himself inside her heavenly heat. It would reset a boundary. Bass would teach her that pleasure could be given and received with mouth and hands.

He swiped his key into the lock and pushed open the door. The sight he beheld had him _barely_ stifling a groan. Charlie was sitting in one of the armchairs. Her head was tilted back and her beautiful golden hair and its soft waves spilled over the back. Her eyes were closed but she wasn’t asleep. She was wearing an emerald green dress and ivory pumps with a tall, needle-thin stiletto heel. One leg was crossed over the other and the higher foot bobbed in the air to whatever beat Charlie was hearing in her head. In one hand was a glass of wine.

Clearly, Charlie was trying to unwind after a particularly stressful day at work. But she was turning Bass on and saliva pooled in his mouth with all the things he wanted to do to her. Bass’ little brain was shouting at his bigger one to rethink the entire plan for the evening. Even Bass’ big brain thought he was an idiot for not wanting to sink inside her soft heat, her soft curves.

“Tough day, Charlie?” Bass asked as he quietly closed the room door.

Charlie’s beautiful blue eyes fluttered open. Bass knew she didn’t do it intentionally but it was very seductive. “Tough week,” Charlie admitted. Her voice even sounded tired.

“What happened?” Bass inquired as he took off his suit jacket and removed his tie. He loosened his collar and his cuffs to get comfortable. Charlie had left the wine on the small table near the chairs. He poured himself a glass.

“We’ve had a security breach,” Charlie revealed. “Somebody hacked through our firewall.”

“Do you know who?”

“I have my suspicions but the investigation is ongoing,” Charlie said.

“You know my company has a cyber division. Why don’t you let us take a look?” Bass suggested.

“I was going to ask. So far the investigation is being handled in-house but I’d like an outside firm to look too,” Charlie replied.

“No problem. I will set it up,” Bass promised.

“Thank you,” Charlie said.

“Did they get anything?”

“No. I am fairly certain that my alerts went off telling me there was an intrusion before they got much of anything. But still there is always the chance.”

“What are your instincts telling you?” Bass asked.

“That it was done in house,” Charlie told him. “No way they got in without direct access to our mainframes. We’ve been working on a new product—it’s about to be revealed—in cyber security. It would certainly be bad for business if my company was hacked before the announcement.”

“Corporate espionage,” Bass said.

“Unfortunately. Because my interests are so diversified it means I battle a lot of enemies at once,” Charlie said. “I never thought it would be like this. I just wanted to invent and design things. I hate thinking I can’t even trust my team. It makes me miss the days when I invented things in my parents’ garage all by myself.”

“No man is an island,” Bass quoted.

“I am no man,” Charlie shot back and took a sip of wine.

“Touché.” Bass was well aware of how womanly Charlie really was. “So when did this happen?”

“Today. Conveniently enough all the security footage has been wiped,” Charlie said. “But we’ve been having unnecessary and frankly unexplainable glitches all week long with the product. But I was able to fix them all. This felt like a last ditch effort to derail everything.”

“Any idea who is behind it?”

“Well my parents could,” Charlie admitted.

Bass cocked a brow at that.

“I’m not saying they _did_ —but you know how thrilled my mother was when I decided to not work for their company and start my own,” Charlie reminded. “But as spiteful as my mother is I don’t think this was her. There are two options: Truman Digital or Flynn Industries. Both are major competitors for me in this market and I recently beat them both out for government contracts.”

“Who do you think it is in house?”

“I don’t want to say. I’d like it if you could handle this personally and I’d like to keep you as unbiased as possible,” Charlie hedged.

“Fair enough. I will call Cynthia and have her free up some of my schedule. Do I have access to your files?”

“With my permission and your eyes only,” Charlie granted.

“Okay. Now enough business,” Bass said and set his glass on the table and got down on his knees before Charlie.

Bass took her right leg and uncrossed it. He grabbed it behind the knee and he wasn’t ignorant of the gooseflesh that bloomed over her skin at his touch. He traced the pads of his fingers along her smooth, muscled calf. He removed her pump and traced the arch of her foot with his tongue.

Charlie shuttered at the contact. “Bass…”

Her words cut off when he sucked her big toe into his mouth and pressed on her instep with his thumbs. He continued his sensuous massage up the top of her foot and her lower leg. He noticed she had a small freckle just below her knee cap and he sucked at the flesh before soothing it with his tongue. Charlie pushed her legs apart to give him access to her core but he resisted. He returned to her left foot and repeated the gesture. This time though he suckled her inner thigh enough to leave a hickey.

He knew this wasn’t supposed to mean anything. And maybe it didn’t beyond the fact that they had immeasurable sexual chemistry. But Bass knew he was on borrowed time and he wanted to leave his mark—however temporary. But he’d had the foresight to make it high up on her leg so no one else would see it as she wore her business suits and dresses. It would be their secret—a memento of their even larger secret to take outside these hotel walls.

Bass pushed her dress up around her waist and saw that Charlie’s undergarments were the exact shade of green as her dress. He knew without even looking that her lacy bra would match. The scent of her arousal filled Bass’ senses. Charlie was undulating her hips in the chair, luring him closer.

As if he could resist such sweetness.

He leaned forward and just breathed her in. He pressed the flat of his tongue against her panties to her clit and luxuriated in the groans that escaped Charlie. She was so responsive no matter what they were doing. Bass truly didn’t understand how her former lovers could have found her lacking. Maybe Charlie had just been looking in the wrong places for her lovers.

Bass curbed that line of thought quickly. It would lead him down an avenue of serious ideas. Like maybe he was the only lover for Charlie. Those were impossible thoughts for a man who knew exactly how many more hours he had access to heaven.

Bass pulled the delicate panties down her trembling legs.

“Please, Bass. I need to feel you inside me,” Charlie begged.

Bass’ resolve nearly crumbled. But he needed to remain strong and focused. They were working towards a goal. Not forever.

“Not this time, Charlie,” Bass informed her.

“What?” Charlie wondered.

“This week’s lesson is an _oral_ lesson,” Bass said tongue-in-cheek. “I’m not going to fuck you this week.”

“Why? Was I bad last week?” Charlie asked in a small voice. Bass nearly slapped himself. All of this was more about strengthening her self-esteem as much as it was about making her a better lover. From what Bass had experienced she wasn’t awful and lifeless as her exes told her. Of course she would take personally his decision not to penetrate her.

Bass scoffed. “Yeah. That’s why I woke you up in the middle of the night for a quickie before we left in the morning.” Bass made sure his derision was audible. Then his tone grew serious. “That’s not even remotely close to the truth. I just wanted to prove to you that pleasure can be found in other ways.”

“Oh.” The relief was noticeable on her face. “I brought those toys you requested.” She pointed her head to a large oversized bag set by the bed.

Bass’ brow cocked and the wheels in his mind started turning with possibilities. “Even better.”

Conversation was silenced as he spread her knees wide and sank his tongue in between her moist folds. Bass gloried in the trembles of Charlie’s toned thighs. He wrapped his arms underneath her knees, pulled her towards the end of the cushion and tilted her hips up. Then he feasted like a man at a banquet table after too long a fast.

He flicked his tongue over her clit but then traced the bottom of his tongue until he reached her slit. He lapped up her juices as they seeped out of her heat. He then licked back up to her hardened nub and lavished it with attention. He repeated this over and over again. Nearly bringing her to orgasm but stopping before he sent her flying.

“Please let me come,” Charlie beseeched.

“Not yet,” Bass denied her.

He dipped one then two fingers into her aching core. He pumped them in and out of her and she moved her hips quickly trying to fuck herself on his fingers. But it wasn’t enough friction. He took mercy on her and pressed a third finger into her. He crooked his fingers and stimulated her g-spot. Charlie’s hips thrust faster and faster. But it wasn’t enough. “More,” Charlie told him.

Bass gently inserted one more finger into her heat. It slipped in easily with her juices. Bass’ hand was pretty coated with Charlie’s arousal as it ran down his fingers and dripped onto his palm. Bass curved his fingers against her sensitive spot and sucked on her clit with his lips and tongue. The simultaneous stimulation sent her flying. She cried out until even her voice failed to express her pleasure.

Bass licked her until the last of her tremors faded. He looked at her and waited for her blue eyes to flicker open. When they did, he made sure she was looking at him before he licked her arousal off his fingers. Then he captured her mouth—heedless of whether or not she would be hesitant to tasting herself on his tongue.

Later on, she returned the favor. They’d long since rid themselves of their clothes and had bundled up in the hotel robes—after, of course, they’d showered and Bass had taught her how much fun could be had in a shower. They had ordered from room service but nothing heavy. They had curled up on the bed eating chocolate covered strawberries and watching a travel show when her hand had creeped up his leg until it palmed his groin. She massaged his manhood through the terrycloth robe and Bass never resisted.

He never said a word as Charlie’s hand snuck beneath the robe and encircled his hardened cock. His hips moved in time with her strokes but he remained silent. His eyes never left the flat screen where their host was taking them across romantic European hotspots.

A small gasp escaped him when he felt her moist tongue lick the purple head. Her hand had stilled but his cock hardly felt neglected as she licked the tip, swirled her tongue around its circumference. Her hand kept a firm grip at the base of his cock, surely ceasing any orgasm she was encouraging with her tongue.

Charlie licked up and down his length but never took him fully into her mouth. She was a quick learner, Bass noted with equal pride and regret. She was taunting him but denying him release. A long moan was his response to her fondling his balls and then gently sucking one then the other into her mouth. He gave up feigning any interest in the highlights about a trip to Paris when she straddled his legs and leaned forward. She licked the path of the vein on the underside of his cock before swallowing him. He instinctively thrusted up to reach deeper in her throat. He immediately pulled back. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to lose control like that. Are you okay?”

The hum of Charlie’s pleasure vibrated through his cock and down to his bones and had his eyes rolling in the back of his head. “Fuuccckk.”

Charlie continued to work him with her mouth. She tried to deep throat but she gagged a little at first. Bass tried to tell her it was okay that she didn’t have to. But Charlie was determined to master the bedroom. She kept working his dick with her mouth, slicking it up with her saliva. She focused on the tip and kept moving down the shaft. Finally she was able to take him past her gag reflex. She held him there, flexing her throat around him and nearly sending him flying off the bed with the sensation.

She pulled off when air was necessary. “You’re so big.”

Bass gave her a Cheshire cat grin. “They all say that.”

Charlie bit his inner thigh in reproach. “Don’t get cocky.”

Bass folded his lips under to hide his smile. Charlie narrowed her eyes at him before returning to the task at hand. The whole time she kept a firm grip on the base of his shaft—preventing him from orgasm. She returned to teasing him and then alternated with taking him into her mouth and twisting her hand around his shaft.

Bass desperately needed to come. He had never been so hard in his life. He was afraid that he would blackout soon. “Charlie. Let me come. Please.”

Charlie finally released her hand from his cock and he immediately followed into her mouth. He couldn’t even warn her, the climax hit that fast. She seemed unfazed as she swallowed his release and then licked him clean.

She gave him a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin. “So what else do you have to teach me?”

Bass started to have serious doubts about who was teaching whom. He spent the rest of the weekend using her bag of toys on her. Many of which he was sure she had purchased just that week from an adult store. Just before they vacated the room, Bass told her: “Use that purple butt plug on yourself this week, Charlie. Next week we’ll be doing anal play.”


	3. Chapter 3

**BEDROOM HYMNS**

**Disclaimer:** _Revolution_ isn't mine. I'm fairly certain the creators would never have thought to take these characters in this direction. Oops. 

**A/N:** A reminder to read the tags and remember how the last chapter ended. You have been warned if this isn't your thing. Thanks again to Lemon for being encouraging. And thanks to those that have read and commented on this story. It's greatly appreciated. :) 

* * *

 

            **Bass:** On my way up.

            **Charlie:** Great. Just come into my office.

Charlie looked at the face of her phone until the screen went dark. Then she turned her attention back to her computer screen. She was looking at schematics for a new piece of medical equipment. In the back of her mind she heard the normal office babble but she was focused more on the precision of the scanner that should make detecting cancer earlier and more accurate.

But she noticed when the hubbub quieted down. Charlie didn’t even have to look to know that Bass had stepped off the elevator. He had come over from his office—so inevitably he was in one of his custom tailored suits. Bass always did make quite an image. It fit perfectly over his lean and toned body. He didn’t have huge muscles but Bass was incredibly strong.

Charlie empathized with her female and gay male staff. His suit looked so good that you couldn’t help but want to peel it off him piece by piece. And Charlie knew exactly how Bass looked naked and sweaty and needy. It was her personal secret heaven.  

But she didn’t have a lifetime pass she knew. It was a realization that made her morose. Charlie had expected that her time with Bass would be both pleasurable and instructive. A man with Bass’ reputation with the ladies couldn’t be a bad lover. But what had surprised Charlie—overwhelmed her even—was how natural it had come to her, to them both.

There had been that initial awkwardness that first night because they both knew they were really there to fuck. But that had dissipated as they had fallen back to normal things between them—eating and chatting. Last week there had been zero weirdness. It had all happened so naturally.

That was playing havoc with Charlie’s mind. She had known going into this experiment that it was only temporary. She just wanted the best teacher possible to make her a better lover. But Bass wasn’t teaching her anything—not really. Yes, he had her trying things she’d never tried before. But only because none of her other lovers had ever wanted to experiment with her. Being with him was confidence building. Charlie had no expectations about them as a couple. She understood and respected the parameters they had set up. It dropped all her inhibitions knowing there was no way she could drive him away when there was no hope that he’d be staying.

Charlie suppressed any touch of sadness that reality brought her. There could be no sentimentality—especially in science. Of course, given their already substantial personal history there was affection but it couldn’t be _more_.

Bass tapped twice on her door frame. She closed out of her screen and turned her attention to him. He was in a steel blue suit and a silver tie. Charlie’s libido wanted to twist the tie in her hand, yank him forward into her office and push him down on her sofa and take him for a ride. A quick glance told her she had a few hours until their arranged meeting time. She ignored her desire to cheat and have a quickie in her office.

One of their parameters was they only engaged with each other inside the hotel room. Her office was hardly neutral and there was always a chance that she would need to see Bass here again after the lessons were over. A true scientist and academic never manipulated an experiment to get better results.

Charlie could delay her gratification until later.

“Sorry I had to cancel our earlier meeting,” Bass said as he entered the office.

“That’s fine. Close the door,” Charlie said.

Bass did as she asked and then took a seat opposite her. Charlie thought about moving them over to the sofa but she doubted her restraint would hold out without the impersonal boundary of her desk.

“I had an emergency meeting in Miami. I spent much of my week there. I only got in a few hours ago,” Bass said.

“Did you get everything settled?”

“Yes. But there was a personal security concern,” Bass said. “I was overhauling both an office and home security system.”

“The concern was resolved?”

“Yep. The man stalking my client was apprehended overnight last night. He was being processed when I was on my way to the airport,” Bass said and he had a satisfied smile on his face.

“You’re very good at your job,” Charlie complimented.

“For your sake, you better hope so,” Bass teased.

“True,” Charlie agreed. “So what did you have to discuss with me?”

“I think you were right about this being an inside job,” Bass said regretfully.

“Damn it.” Charlie’s frustration was audible.

“What’s more is that I think it was at least a two person job,” Bass added. “I think one of your programmers and a security personnel worked in tandem.”

“Who?”

“I am looking into a few people in each division. I have a background check—including financials—on each of them coming soon,” Bass told her.

“Who are your suspects?”

“I’d rather not say. I’d hate for your interactions to change with any of them and you accidentally tip them off we are on to them,” Bass hedged.

“I won’t.”

“Many say that but it happens. You’ll either treat them with derision or overcompensate by being overly cordial. The rest of the staff will notice the change too,” Bass refuted. “Have you had any other breaches?”

“No. It was almost enough to make me think it was all accidental or some sort of internal glitch. But I know that’s not true,” Charlie said. “Okay. We’ll play it your way for now. But I’m going to want names soon, Bass.”

“You will, Charlie,” Bass promised. “I have to go. I have a lot of work to catch up on due to my sojourn to Miami.”

“If you need to cancel our session later, that’s fine,” Charlie offered. She hoped she managed to keep her disappointment out of her voice.

“Absolutely not. Why do you think I killed myself the last three days in Miami?” Bass said as he stood up.

Charlie followed suit and walked with him to the door. She tried very much not to show how much his words pleased her. She must be proving a good student if he was eager not to delay a lesson. Maybe—just maybe—Bass was actually enjoying their time together as much as she was.

“Okay. I just didn’t want you to feel obligated. You must be tired and backed up with work,” Charlie said.

“A weekend of pleasure with a beautiful woman is never an obligation,” Bass corrected her. “You look gorgeous today.” She was wearing a burgundy skirt with a yellow silk blouse. “But you are seriously overdressed for my plans. See you later, Charlotte.”

He winked at her.

The soft kiss he brushed on her cheek lingered on her skin for hours after.

* * *

 

Charlie opted not to use her key. She knocked on the door and waited for Bass to answer.

“Did you forget to get the key from the front desk?” Bass asked when he swung the door open.

“Nope,” Charlie said and then she pulled the knot from her trench coat and held open the sides of the coat so that only Bass could see but no one else who entered the hallway or looking in the security cameras could.

She had lost the skirt and blouse. All she had on was a matching barely-there black lace bra, panties and garter set.

Bass gulped so hard he may have swallowed his Adam’s apple. His stepped closer to wrap his arm around her back and pull her into him and the room. He snapped the door shut and pushed her up against it.

“You are a naughty girl,” Bass said. He sounded so impressed. He was nipping and sucking at the back of her ear and on her neck. “If I didn’t know you I would say you were playing me this whole time. You are quite the seductress.”

“It’s you,” Charlie corrected him. “You make me brave.”

Bass pulled back to look her in the eye. “Charlotte Matheson anything less than fearless? I don’t believe it.” He stopped her reply with a bruising kiss and as he sucked her tongue all thought was lost on Charlie.

Bass couldn’t get enough of her. She smelled like an aphrodisiac. Vanilla and brown sugar lingered on her skin and ignited a fire in his belly. Underneath that was a scent that he could only describe as Charlie—sweet Charlie.

Bass took the bag she carried on her shoulder and gently tossed it behind him into the heart of the room. He drew the trench coat off her arms and let it fall on the floor in front of the door. He hitched her legs up and wrapped her thighs around his hips. He pushed his hardness against her core. Bass marveled that Charlie was aroused—he could smell her sweetness and her panties felt damp. He kept thrusting against her and drank up every gasp that spilled from her lips. He couldn’t deny her orgasm when she had so daringly worn nothing all through town and the hotel. That kind boldness deserved a reward.

After she peaked, Bass leaned back. “Beautiful.”

He carried her over to the bed and pulled her panties off. He left the garters on because they were sexy as hell on her long toned legs. Charlie may have been an academic but she clearly believed in taking care of her body. It showed in her long, lean lines and tightly sculpted muscles. But what Bass enjoyed best was that her body still had a softness to it—her hips fit perfectly into his hands.

“Now, Charlie. Did you do your homework this week?” Bass inquired as he leaned into her center and lapped up her juices from her orgasm.

“Uh-hmm,” Charlie practically purred.

Bass smirked to himself. Charlie was a sex kitten and she never knew it.

He inserted a finger into her vagina, stimulating her again. He did this with two more fingers until all were soaked with her arousal. “Now I’m going to check.”

He trailed his fingers from her slit to her puckered hole. He gently inserted the tip of his middle finger. Charlie flinched a little at the intrusion. “Relax, baby,” Bass murmured. He took his other hand and toyed with her clit. He pressed his tongue through her moist folds to penetrate her hole. The stimulation distracted Charlie enough for him to slip his finger past her muscle ring.

Bass concentrated hard on all his actions to make sure Charlie felt more pleasure than pain as he breached her second hole. When he felt she was ready he inserted a second finger. She tightened her muscles instinctively but she already made herself relax before he could say a word. He wasn’t sure if Charlie had ever participated in this sort of sexual activity but he was inclined to not think so.

Bass also suspected it wasn’t because she would have been unwilling but because her former lovers did not understand her body and her mind the way he did. Charlie was always curious and fearless—she had been so her whole life. She had learned to be tough when she was surrounded by people who were so much older than her but were considered her peers because of her brilliant mind. She had learned a long time ago that she had to be willing to speak up because no one would think to call on her.

But sex was a different entity altogether. By the time Charlie’s libido had caught up with her peers, they already had years of experience and she was a true ingénue. However, she was also far advanced to her those her own age and they would hardly be attractive to her but also were likely as inexperienced as she was.

Charlie clearly had an interest in pleasure—both giving and receiving. She also wasn’t afraid to step outside of her comfort zone to do both. These last few weeks had been an eye opener for Bass in that regard. He had been so unprepared for the way she responded to him and equally the way he responded to her.

Bass quickly turned from that thought. It would do them no good. This was only temporary. Bass didn’t do relationships. Plus any relationship with Charlie was off-limits anyway. There was a reason they weren’t telling friends and family about their _tryst_ : It was a secret thing that should never have happened; an unspoken taboo.

Believing that Charlie was prepared for penetration, Bass retrieved her bag and his. He retrieved a set of Ben Wa balls on a string from her bag. He grabbed his favorite bottle of lube from his bag. Bass lovingly inserted the balls into Charlie’s core.

“Should I get on my stomach?” Charlie wondered.

Bass shook his head. He wanted to be able to watch her face as he took her to a realm she hadn’t visited yet. Charlie in pleasure was a divine sight. But he also wanted to be able to read her face in case it became too much for her. After making sure she was going to hold the pair of silver balls inside, Bass grabbed his lube and generously applied some to his cock.

He hooked her legs around his thighs and grabbed a pillow to prop her up so she wouldn’t become uncomfortable. He greased two fingers again to make sure she was loose still. Discovering she was he started pushing his pelvis against hers and she groaned at the stimulation.

He kept his fingers on her nerve bundle. He took his length in his other hand and guided it into her second entrance. Like she had with his fingers, Charlie tensed but he kept his focus on her clit until once again she was distracted by that and not the burn as his cock slipped achingly slow into her channel.  

They both shuddered when his balls rested against her backside. “How you doing, Charlie?”

Charlie took a couple of deep breaths to center herself. The first instinct was to rail against the intrusion but she didn’t _want_ to. Charlie was discovering more and more about her own pleasure. She took a minute to process the sensation. Her vaginal walls were clamped tight around the balls, which meant her ass was tight around Bass’ dick. She felt _full_ in a way she never had before.

“I’m okay,” Charlie said at the same moment that she realized it was true. This was different but it didn’t make it bad. But she wanted to see if it could be better. She gave a nod of her head to Bass to give him permission to carry on.

Bass thanked all the Gods—great and lesser—in the universe because the feel of her very tight channel clenching his cock was too fucking amazing to deny. Bass moved deliberately slow until he truly felt the fear and tentativeness leave Charlie’s body. He didn’t want to hurt her but his own release was a siren call he couldn’t ignore. His thrusts got deeper; he pulled out a little farther each time. Each snap of his hips rocked her core and jostled the balls inside her while also antagonizing her clitoris.

Bass knew Charlie had finally given over to the pleasure completely when she pulled the cups of her bra down. It trussed up her already gorgeous breasts. She fondled herself as Bass fucked her. She squeezed the luscious orbs and then traced circles around her areolas then she’d squeeze her hardened tips between her forefingers and thumbs. Bass lost control a little when she began to pinch and pull on her nipples.

He bent forward more, changing the angle of his penetration slightly, which Charlie recognized with a low and drawn out, “Ooohhhhh.”

Bass captured Charlie’s mouth once again. In the process he trapped her pinched nipples between their sweaty bodies and also now pressed harder against her clit. Still he steadily thrusted in and out of her ass and felt as Charlie’s orgasm overtook her. It started with a trembling in her legs that spread throughout her body. She tilted her head back as if to scream but it was as though sound had long vacated her body. Her brain could not make a sound as it worked to process all the overstimulation of her body.

Bass found his pleasure in bearing witness to Charlie’s. The way she had orgasmed had felt like an awakening in him. Of course the clenching of her channel around his shaft didn’t hurt and he released inside of her. He felt the soft jab of her heels into his lower back because he had kept the opened toed burgundy heels on her.

Charlie practically wilted onto the bed as she returned from her blissful high. Bass kept a careful eye on her to make sure she wasn’t negatively crashing after breaching her subspace. Bass removed her bra to make her more comfortable. He drew off her garters and heels. Then he pushed her thighs apart to gently pull on the string to remove the Ben Wa Balls. Charlie’s body trembled again. Bass saw his semen seeping out of her and pooling beneath her ass on the sheets.

It hit him all at once that his semen was the first to ever touch Charlie’s back channel and it triggered something animalistic in him. He had given her something no one else ever had. He was a pilgrim of her pleasure. But someday somebody else would replace the footprints he’d mapped across her body and the idea tortured him.

He wanted to claim her as much as he could while the clock ticked down, marking the end of their time together. Immediately his cock hardened, prepared to mark territory that wasn’t his and never would be. But for tonight Bass gave into the delusion.

* * *

**A/N:** **As always thanks for reading. If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** _Revolution_ still doesn't belong to me. I'm only playing around with the characters. All original characters and plot are mine though.

**Author's Note:** Humblest apologies that this update was so delayed. Life was overwhelming and I ran into a bit of a mental roadblock with this chapter. This was the original chapter 4. But my good friend Lemon asked to see Charlie and Bass outside of the bedroom to show their intimacy beyond the sheets. I figured she had a point. I mean, if  _LemonSupreme_ is asking for non-smutty content then you're either doing something very wrong or very right. Either/or, here's a new chapter 4. It is not smutty. It actually focuses more on the emotions rolling around inside Charlie and Bass. Their bond and friendship. Clear foundation for a more committed relationship between them. They are such non-communicating morons, though I love them. Hope you enjoy. (And don't worry the smut will be back in the next chapter.) 

* * *

  

Charlie gave herself a tirade that even her mother would approve of. Her idea was nuts. But it was also equally crazy that she was debating even texting Bass. Yes, they had just left the hotel an hour or so ago. However they had set up parameters for that time together—for this very purpose. What they shared together inside room 402 was to have no bearings on how they continued to live their lives around one another outside the room. Furious at herself for even questioning communicating with Bass about something they had done a million times before, Charlie snatched her phone off the kitchen counter and typed a message to Bass.

**Charlie:** Hey. I was wondering what you were doing this weekend? On my way home I saw the theater running a black and white film noir marathon this weekend. You interested?

Charlie refused to hold onto the phone willing Bass to answer easily and immediately. This compulsion to be near him was ridiculous if a bit overwhelming. She left the device on the counter and went to her bedroom. She unpacked her belongings from her “402-bag” as she dubbed it and set the things that needed to be dry cleaned aside. She left the toys inside it, promising to clean them later, and set it on her closet floor. After her tutorial was done, Charlie was sure she was going to have to find a place to store them. She’d never considered how much the toys could be used to achieve pleasure but Bass had opened her eyes to a lot of things these past few weeks.

After what she was convinced was a respectable amount of time to wait for a response, Charlie returned to her phone and found the light flashing indicating she had an incoming message waiting for her. She unlocked the screen and read Bass’ reply.

**Bass:** Sounds great. Can we meet up today? I have plans tomorrow.

Charlie did her level best not to wonder what his plans could entail. They were not exclusive— _they_ weren’t even a “they.” Instead of inquiring about his Sunday plans, Charlie quickly texted him back a time to meet. She didn’t have to tell him what theater. They always went to the same one.

She absolutely hated herself for standing in front of her closet despairing over what to wear. This was not a date. She and Bass had been doing these movie fests for years—something they enjoyed without Miles who found them to be boring. Give him a horror or action film marathon and he was in. He tended to develop an immediate case of the Bubonic plague if he was invited to a black and white movie marathon.

Therefore this was most certainly not a date because if Miles would go he would be invited. This was just something that Bass and Charlie had always enjoyed doing together. Sometimes they even binge watched the History Channel if it was running a weekend marathon on U.S. history events, like the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Charlie had a lot of interest in WWII so she’d get Bass to watch those marathons sometimes too. Miles once got a case of diphtheria that tragically prevented him from showing up at Bass’. But he was able to be tagged on social media with some friends at a concert of a popular local band that same weekend. The most memorable one was when Miles begged out because he had a bad case of scoliosis and he’d called Charlie hacking and sneezing and saying it was best he stay away because he was clearly contagious.

Charlie had gravely agreed with her uncle and told her that it could be life threatening if left untreated. It could make him impotent and the only way to cure it was to go the hospital for a round of twelve shots that would combat the disease. Charlie had played it completely serious; meanwhile Miles was suddenly backtracking and assuring her that he would be just fine. His doctor told him the shots weren’t necessary. But Charlie hadn’t let him off the hook quite so easily and kept pressing it. She even volunteered to cancel her plans with Bass so that she could take him to the hospital herself. She called his doctor “a quack” who needed to have his license revoked—that it was dangerous to let someone with scoliosis be exposed to people, both because it could be spread airborne and because the infected person’s immune system was likely to catch a number of sicknesses from others, increasing the likelihood that they would die. Charlie kept pressing the issue, stating she was getting in her car at that exact moment and was going to call an ambulance to his house to take him to the hospital. Didn’t his doctor know it was lethal to pregnant women if they were exposed to scoliosis and Nora was five months pregnant at the time? Charlie was going to call Nora and demand she meet them at the hospital to be checked out too.

Finally Miles admitted that it was all a ruse. “I just didn’t want to sit through weekend boredom like that time we ended up watching a marathon of that show _How the States Got Their Shapes_ ,” Miles admitted. “Sometimes I think I’m likely to fall into a coma from the _memory_ of that exposure.”

“You’re an ass,” Charlie had told him and then she got the last laugh. “Next time you want to beg off on something educational, maybe you should Google what you’re excuse is. Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine, butthead.” Then she’d hung up laughing so hard tears had streaked her face as Miles sputtered on the other end. She’d thoroughly enjoyed getting her uncle all worked up at the prospect of having to go to the hospital for a battery of tests and shots. And the possibility that he’d be in trouble with his wife.

Shaking off the funny memory, Charlie got down to brass tactics. This wasn’t a date. She and Bass always went casual for these things. It’s not like she had to impress him. The sly thought came to her: Because she was already sleeping with him. Her ass twinged as the memory of Bass burying himself so deep in her channel just hours before. She’d never been fucked that way before. She’d been nervous but curious. But she was game to try because she wanted to know if she liked it or not. Charlie was learning it was just as important to know what _she_ liked or didn’t like as it was to know her partner’s likes and dislikes. It helped that it seemed to be Bass’ primary focus, giving her permission to examine her own pleasure. Bass was lucky that he was so damn confident in the bedroom—confident that he knew how to both get and give pleasure equally.

Charlie decided on a pair of dark denim jeans and a blue sweater that in no way at all mirrored Bass’ eye color. She chose her favorite pair of brown suede boots and a plum colored pea coat. Maybe it was a tad fancier than she normally wore to these non-dates. But damn it, she wanted to look good—but not like she tried hard. Grabbing her bag, she snatched up her phone and left her loft.

She knew their routine so she didn’t wait for Bass at the theater entrance but across the street at a coffee shop. She watched as Bass strode down the street, seemingly oblivious to all the glances and second-glances he received from women on the street. Even if it made Charlie want to scream like a banshee at them, she understood. Bass cut quite an image in his dark denim, black Henley and his opened soft brown leather jacket.

“Hey Charlie. Thanks for letting me know about the marathon,” Bass said. He wrapped a casual arm around her shoulder—something he’d done a million times before—and pulled her close as he led them into the coffee shop. They ordered three coffees and went across the street. The swarm of butterflies in her belly were the only new addition to their tradition.

“Afternoon Eduardo,” Charlie said when they walked up to the inside ticket counter. Eduardo was the owner of the theater and as they’d become regulars at his business they’d become friendly. He never gave them a hard time for bringing in a coffee to drink while they watched. They always hit up the refreshment stand anyway. Charlie handed him his simple coffee with cream and sugar.

“ _Gracias_ , Charlotte.” Eduardo accepted the coffee. He sipped it and squinted his eyes at her. “Only two sugars.”

“Hey I tried to tell her to put the third sugar in,” Bass said, clearly prepared to throw Charlie under the bus.

“Now Eduardo, you are supposed to be watching your sugar,” Charlie said. “Your wife told me so. And you don’t think I’m going to get _her_ mad at me, do you? She won’t make me _Mantecaditos_ for Christmas and you’re plum nuts if you think I’m doing anything to cause that.”

Eduardo sighed. “ _Si_. Pilar’s _Mantedcaditos_ are delicious.”

“Now you see my point,” Charlie said. Eduardo nodded and glumly sipped his under-sweetened coffee.

“You should come to our Christmas party in December. Pilar puts out an entire feast of traditional Puerto Rican foods and desserts,” Eduardo invited.

Charlie blinked twice before a grin broke across her face. “Don’t tease me, Eduardo. You know I have a weakness for Pilar’s cooking.”

“Now you know why I married her,” Eduardo teased.

Bass chuckled. “Smart man. But what about my invite? I did try to get you that extra sugar.”

“True. Loyal man. You may come too,” Eduardo invited.

“Thanks,” Bass accepted. “We’ll take two tickets.”

Bass reached for his wallet and handed over cash for the tickets. He didn’t take the change—which is why he always made sure to pay in cash at the theatre. Eduardo had been good to them over the years and Bass knew it was a struggle to keep a theatre like this open in the face of huge chain theatres. Charlie went into the darkened theatre and took their usual seats. The place wasn’t at capacity by any stretch of the imagination—a smattering of couples sprinkled throughout the dark room. There were fancier, updated theatres they could go to within reasonable walking distance but Charlie and Bass never considered it. It was an unspoken agreement to support Eduardo—and his family they’d met at a family BBQ years ago—whenever possible. Not to mention that they only ever played the current movies and would never have showings like these.

They were halfway through the second movie when Bass offered to go get them something to eat at the refreshment stand. Charlie eagerly accepted and asked for nachos with extra cheese and a bag of Skittles. Bass nodded with a grin because he always knew what Charlie wanted. If she got a hot dog then she always asked for a box of Reese’s Pieces. Bass pulled open the theatre door and blinked at the bright lights from the lobby.

“Time for food?” Eduardo guessed.

“You know it,” Bass said.

“What’s your girl want for candy this time?” Eduardo asked as he got up from his stool to move down the counter.

Bass paused for a second at the “your girl.” Charlie wasn’t his. Not really. Not in the way that he had started to want. The very same way he had no business wanting. “Skittles,” Bass sputtered.

In the recesses of his mind, Bass understood that part of him had started to see Charlie differently. But hearing Eduardo casually refer to her as his shoved home how much the notion didn’t bother Bass. He knew it was a disaster—it could never work out between them for so many reasons: Their ages and their relationships with Miles being the two biggest factors.

“Here you go,” Eduardo said and handed over a basket of nachos that already had extra cheese.

Bass realized he didn’t even have to ask because Eduardo knew their orders so well. Because he and Charlie came here often. Other times they hung at one of their places binging educational TV.

“And here is your popcorn and peanut M&Ms,” Eduardo added Bass’ habitual order to Charlie’s. He even put their shared large orange soda on the counter without Bass asking. Because Bass always got popcorn and peanut M&Ms when Charlie got nachos because that meant she had the munchies and they would share the nachos and popcorn and she’d steal some of his chocolate.

They were a couple without being a couple, Bass realized with a start.

They were fucking without the intimacy of a relationship too.

A swelling wave of panic crashed onto Bass’ chest. What the actual fuck had he been thinking when he agreed to Charlie’s request? They had such a good thing going on—a beautiful friendship between them. There was no possible way that when the last lesson was over that things could possibly return to normal. A piece of Bass was already being eaten away with jealousy that another man was going to touch Charlie in all the ways _he_ had shown her that she enjoyed.

“You okay?” Eduardo asked with genuine concern.

Bass shook off his stupor. “Sorry man. I was thinking of something.”

“This is what you want to eat right?” Eduardo inquired. “You always get popcorn and M&Ms when your Charlotte gets her nachos.”

“That’s exactly right, Eduardo,” Bass assured and handed over cash for the food. He picked up his order but felt compelled to turn to Eduardo and correct him. “She’s not my Charlotte.” Bass couldn’t honestly recall if Eduardo had ever referred to her as such before. If he had, it had never registered with Bass as something that stood out. Which was probably a thought for another time, Bass told himself. But not now.

“Sure she is,” Eduardo said with a chuckle. “You two always come here together. Whenever one of you comes alone you always know exactly why the other couldn’t. You look after Charlotte—like when that _hombre_ tried to get grabby with her outside the bathroom. If she’s not yours, where is her boyfriend? You know I’d never let my Pilar have movie dates with another man.”

“We’re just good friends, Eduardo,” Bass said. “I’ve known her since she was born. She’s too young.”

“Ah,” Eduardo said and nodded wisely. “ _Mi abuelo_ was fifteen years older than _mi abuela._ They were married for fifty-five years before he died. Love knows no age. I love my children even though they are all grown now.”

“Parents always love their kids,” Bass argued.

“My Pilar is the romantic one. She reads those books and watches _telenovelas_ and whatnot. If she was here you know what she would say to you?” Eduardo asked.

Bass shook his head.

“Soulmates always love their soulmates,” Eduardo said. “But Pilar isn’t here. So I’ll say that Charlie’s cheese is getting cold. You know she doesn’t like that. Go.”

Bass nodded and headed back for the theatre door. Bass juggled his food and grabbed the door handle without dropping anything.

“One more thing, Bass,” Eduardo called out. “You never said you didn’t want her to be yours. You only said why she couldn’t be,” Eduardo said when Bass turned to look back at the man.

Bass scowled as he returned to the theatre and shuffled down the row back to Charlie. Eduardo’s _helpful_ little insights didn’t feel helpful at all. They felt like they were complicating an issue that was plainly black and white. Charlie was off-limits. There was a reason they hadn’t shared their time in Room 402 with their family.

“Jeez. I thought you had to milk the cow to make the cheese,” Charlie teased.

“Sorry. Eduardo was talking about his family,” Bass said by way of explanation.

“That’s okay,” Charlie said and scooped up the nacho basket and helped put the soda in the holder between them.

_The Night of the Hunter_ had just finished up and _Laura_ was announced to follow in ten minutes when Bass looked at his watch. “I’m going to have to head to the office soon. You want come with and catch some dinner before I barricade myself in my office all night?”

“Sure,” Charlie said. She needed to get up and move anyway. They’d been sitting for far too long and they’d finished their snacks a couple of hours ago.

“What do you feel like eating?” Bass asked.

“After the junk food from earlier—something light,” Charlie admitted. “How about that great salad bar place? I’d love some of their house dressing.”

“Sounds good to me,” Bass agreed. They said their farewells to Eduardo and decided to walk the distance to the eatery. It was that precarious time in the fall where it hadn’t completely turned cold as a precursor to winter but it didn’t have any lingering Indian Summer heat either. The last good days before walking the streets of Chicago would be too uncomfortable to bear.

“How about we go to the steak place instead?” Bass suggested. “I’m a little hungrier for more than rabbit food. But they have an excellent house salad if you want just that.”

“I’m game,” Charlie said.

She ordered the salad and the homemade butternut squash soup. Bass sat across from her feasting on a T-bone. Bass ordered a local ale and Charlie asked for a glass of wine. “How come you have to go back to the office?”

“To work on your case of course,” Bass told her with a smile.

“How’s that coming?” Charlie asked.

“I’ll give you the name or names this week,” Bass promised. “I’m just waiting on a few financial searches to be cleared.”

“Good. Then we can compare out findings,” Charlie said. She reached over and speared a piece of steak before he could and nibbled away. Bass helped himself to some of her salad.

“If you’ve been investigating on your own why did you ask for my help?” Bass inquired.

“It was a backup plan. I wanted an outside source to investigate. But then I decided an in-house investigation would be a good idea too,” Charlie explained. “I’m going to have to fire them and likely press charges on whoever it is. If we each independently reach the same conclusion it’ll make a good case.”

“That’s a good plan, Charlie,” Bass said with some pride. “That also explains why you didn’t pressure me too hard about sharing my suspect list.”

“No. I figured you were right—that way you didn’t influence me and I didn’t influence you either,” Charlie agreed. “This is the final week before the program is due. I’d like to have all the nonsense taken care of. When we’re finished here I’m going back to the office to look at the programming again—as well as a couple other projects too.”

“You need to do more than just work, Charlie,” Bass commented.

“I do. I spent today watching movies,” Charlie argued.

“Besides that. You’re young. You need to socialize more,” Bass said.

“I do socialize enough. I’m always going to some function or another,” Charlie reminded him.

“Again, that’s business. Are you seeing anyone?” Bass asked.

Charlie took a sip of her wine and shook her head no. “I didn’t feel right to be seeing someone while taking _lessons_ with you.”

Bass nodded, understanding. “Do you have someone in mind though?”

Charlie gave a noncommittal shrug. “Honestly, I’ve been too busy. I’ve been a few dates and they went nowhere. I like my life the way it is right now. I don’t feel like anything is missing.”

Bass wished he could say the same. His current time with Charlie had made him painfully aware that there was a huge hole in his life. He’d run from commitment for so long after the pain of losing nearly everyone. He’d been so caught up by his fear of that pain that he’d ignored the ache of loneliness. Bass’ life was good—but there was definite room for improvement. He thought about Miles’ life with Nora and their family. The image existed like a burr in his chest, prickly and painful. Because in his mind the image was starting to look a lot like him and Charlie together. And Charlie was the one person who was off-limits to him for all manner of reasons—not the least of which is that if it didn’t work out than he would surely lose the last bit of family he had. It was an unbearable thought to Bass. But he couldn’t see anyone else but her in this dream for a future. Which meant he was no closer to realizing that dream and that just intensified the loneliness all the more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** _Revolution_ isn't mine. I'm not sure this is what they had in mind for their characters but too bad. 

 **A/N:** The last chapter was received favorably though it wasn't reviewed as much as before. I don't know if that's because people have moved on in the interim--which is fine--or if people only like this story if Bass and Charlie are getting naked. Thanks to those that did comment because that fuels the fire to keep working on this. Best to all. :) 

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Bass was conducting Charlie like she was a sensual symphony. Every cry that seeped past her lips was the melody. The weeping bliss coating her skin was the harmony. The arousal that was dripping down her thighs was the key. The unrelenting pulse of their two heartbeats was the rhythm.

Her eyes were concealed behind black satin—the same material that was binding her hands to the headboard. The room was thick with desire and lust.

Bass brought the riding crop down once again over the toned expanse of her abdomen. He repeated the gesture until he was hovering over her pelvis. With a flick of the wrist he slapped the riding crop. Charlie arched her body in pleasure and her legs fell open of their own accord. Bass brushed the end of the crop over her skin, leaving a trail behind in her sheen of sweat.

The flogger was made of the softest, supple leather. Bass wasn’t using it to inflict pain. Every flick of his wrist was carefully controlled. It was only supposed to stimulate Charlie—get the blood flowing close to the skin, heating her blood, heightening her arousal. He had worked the tool over her legs and her ass before moving to her front. Nothing he did would leave a mark.

Bass brought it down one last time over her core and watched as Charlie’s body bowed from the pleasure. Bass wondered how he would go the rest of his life without witnessing the majesty of Charlie in physical splendor. Already it felt as though the rest of his life would be wasted on poor substitutes. No one before or anyone after Charlie would affect Bass the way she did. He vowed to himself that as death creeped in to greet him, wiping away all memories of the life that he’d led until Bass had no regrets about leaving what he could no longer remember: This image of Charlie would be the last thing the grim reaper took before his death.

He set aside the crop and reached for the hoop that was connected to the anal beads he had inserted. He twisted it a little and Charlie moaned at the sensation. Taking a piece of ice from the bucket on the bedside table Bass traced invisible lines with it on her warm flesh. Remembering that Charlie loved having her nipples played with, he circled the hardened tips with the frozen cube. Charlie shivered and arched up to increase the contact.

Bass moved down the rest of her torso, absorbing every shiver through Charlie’s body as if it was his own bones. He left the melting cube to dissolve in the sweet crease of Charlie’s bellybutton. He reached for another piece and drew infinity circles across her lower belly, dipping lower until he brushed the sparse hairs covering Charlie’s pubic area. She was meticulously trimmed but not totally bare. Bass found he enjoyed the small strip of hair Charlie maintained.

He pulled apart her folds until her hardened clit lay exposed to him. Gently he blew a warm breath across the bud. Charlie thrust her hips upward, desiring more contact. Bass pressed the cube to her and Charlie’s bones didn’t just shiver they shook. He slipped it down and up over and over again. Each time getting closer to her pussy until he slowly pressed the piece into her core and held it there with his thumb.

Then he pressed the flat of warm tongue against Charlie’s cooled clit and felt as her bones _rattled_ from the convulsions. “Oh, God, Bass…” she cried out. Bass licked until he reached her slit and inserted his tongue. He felt the coolness of the ice mixed with the heat of her arousal. He thrusted his tongue into her core, lapping up the water and juices from Charlie’s core. Bass knew without a doubt he had discovered the headiest cocktail on earth.

Still Charlie did not climax. All Bass’ ministrations had been designed to tease not release. But Bass could read the notes of Charlie’s pleasure like a maestro and knew she neared her crescendo.

“Charlie, baby, I want to try something on you if you are willing,” Bass spoke low.

“What Bass?” Charlie’s voice was rough.

“I brought a set of adjustable nipple clamps to use. I remembered the way you played with your nipples last week. I thought maybe you’d like to try the clamps.”

“I’m not really into pain, Bass,” Charlie admitted.

“I wouldn’t set them that tight. These are good for beginners. I would only tighten them to add the barest of pressure but enough to tease since you can’t with your hands bound. I’ll be too... _preoccupied_ elsewhere.”

“How long?”

“Not long at all,” Bass promised. He knew better than to leave clamps for longer than a handful of minutes, especially on someone so inexperienced. “Do you trust me, Charlotte?”

“I trust you, Bass.”

Bass tried not think about what her ready answer meant to them. To him.

“Go ahead.”

Bass retrieved the last of the toys he would need from their bags and set them beside Charlie’s prone body. He showered her nipples with attention before applying each clamp. He questioned Charlie repeatedly about her comfort. She answered affirmatively each time, if a bit breathlessly.

He dipped a finger into Charlie’s pussy and found her soaking wet still. Eagerly he picked up her dildo and slipped it into her. He pumped the thick shaft in and out of her, drawing weeping cries from Charlie as she bowed her body to take it deeper into her.

Her muscles were tightening and it made more friction against her walls. The sensation of the dildo rubbing up the membrane dividing her two channels and brushing against the beads Bass had inserted there was mindboggling. But still it lacked just enough to get her off.

With his free hand Bass grabbed one more device. A little bullet vibrator that buzzed in his hand as he pressed it against Charlie’s craving clit. He kept fucking her with the dildo. The effect was instantaneous. This orgasm started in Charlie’s toes and raced across her tight caves and her clenching thighs to her trembling abdomen then up and down her shivering head and arms.

Bass kept the dildo in Charlie and with painstaking slowness removed the beads from her ass, drawing out her orgasm even more. He pulled the vibrator away, fearful of overstimulation. Then he climbed higher up her body and removed one nipple clamp then the other. Each time he lavished the abused tip with his tongue and soothed both until most of the ache dissipated. The clamp removal only intensified and prolonged her orgasm. Simultaneously Bass reached down and began pumping the dildo in and out of her, milking her orgasm to the very end.

Afterwards he gently untied Charlie’s hands and gingerly lowered her stressed shoulders, followed by her blindfold. Bass knew she needed to be attended to so she didn’t crash. He could tell by the expression on her face she had reached subspace. Bass scooped up her limp body and carried her to the in suite bathroom. There he drew a warm bath and placed her gently into the soothing water before joining her.

Bass kept caressing her body, a constant reminder to bring her back to reality. He used a soft sponge and wiped away the cooled, sticky sweat and then washed clean the remnants of her desire and pleasure. As her back was pressed to his front, Bass felt more than saw when Charlie had leveled out.

“You are remarkable,” Bass whispered into her ear when he knew she was cognizant enough to listen to him.

She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. The image stole that last breath from Bass’ body. It was a miracle that his heart knew enough to kick start again because his mind had completely shut off in amazement. The glow on her face, the pleasure engraved on her features stunned him.

“Me? I think you mean yourself.” Charlie said with genuine incredulity. The sound of her voice woke his brain. Startled, Bass shook his head.

“That was you, Charlie. I have no idea how or why your exes ever thought of you as anything less than a goddess but they aren’t worthy of their balls,” Bass corrected her.

Charlie turned in the pool of water, causing it to lap a little at the sides and onto the floor. She straddled his lap and the nearness to her pussy aroused Bass further. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “This was all you, Bass. It’s never been this way for me before.”

Then she rose up and sank down onto his waiting shaft. They slipped together like two puzzle pieces made for the other. This coupling was slow, tender as Charlie leisurely rode Bass’ cock. The only concession she made for the intensity that seemed to accompany every time they mated was to arch her back so she could take him deeper.

Never once did either of them break the eye contact between them. It felt more than just a connection they couldn’t break; it was as though each pair of blue eyes was looking deeper and further into the other than had ever been done by anyone.

As they both crested simultaneously Bass realized that this wasn’t fucking. This was veering them dangerously into lovemaking and that was against both their rules and what they were prepared for.

“Thank you, Bass. I—” Charlie whispered afterwards.

Bass saw something in her eyes that he was terribly afraid was reflected in his eyes.

He leaned into kiss her.

Bass truly didn’t understand why this turn of events shocked him so much. Hadn’t they danced on and over the lines they’d drawn just that week?

_It was a few days prior and Charlie had taken Bass out for a thank you lunch for rooting out the people responsible for nearly sabotaging her company. Of course, she had already reached the same conclusion the previous evening after she’d done a bit of searching that authorities probably would all hacking. She had grown restless waiting for Bass to give her the names he’d found to support what her official investigation found. So she’d skirted outside the law to confirm her own findings._

_Her search had shown her that her head programmer had a gambling problem but a sudden influx of cash from an offshore account. Julia Neville had taken the top spot on her list of suspects. Followed shortly by Frank Blanchard. He was a former police officer with two alimony payments and an aging mother in need of costly nursing home care. Charlie felt differently about his deceit than she did Julia’s. Julia didn’t surprise her; she’d always been cut-throat and interested in number one. Frank clearly was in over his head trying to pay for his mother’s care. She just wished that he had come to her instead of betraying her. She had always liked Frank and hadn’t enjoyed watching him being dragged away in handcuffs._

_Julia? Well that image was cause for another sip of celebratory wine._

_Still she kept her secret to herself and let Bass take the glory. He had this brilliant smile that wouldn’t break and it was insanely attractive. Charlie found her heeled toe dragging up his leg as she looked coyly over her wine glass. Bass’ electric blue eyes blinked in surprise and Charlie restrained herself from crawling across the table to him._

_They were enjoying a nice lunch in a secluded booth in one of Chicago’s poshest eateries. Slowly over the course of lunch the space between them had narrowed and they were left to eat with one hand. Charlie’s left hand danced across Bass’ open right hand. Then they would change and suddenly Bass’ fingers massaged Charlie’s hand._

_Then it happened. They had closed the distance between them so that they were now pressed against the other. Both leaned in and then they were brushing lips as well as shoulders. It wasn’t a bruising kiss; a light one, really. The kiss was a sip that tested the wine; proving satisfactory, both drank deeper and the kiss darkened. There for all the world to see Bass and Charlie plundered one another’s mouths until the need for air pulled them apart._

_Both of them were winded as if they had run miles and stunned to find the finish line was closer than they had believed. Neither was sure if this race was a victory or not. They didn’t kiss again and both worked to pull themselves back over the lines._

_But it didn’t matter if they could or not. All that did was that the lines had been breached to begin with._

Later, when they had dried off from their bath and bundled into the plush hotel robes, they feasted on room service.

“It’s hard to believe how these last few weeks have flown by,” Charlie commented as she cut a piece of her steak. “Do we really have one more week in this room?”

Bass cleared his throat and made a production of buttering a slice of warmed, homemade bread. Ever since he’d cut Charlie off with a kiss in the tub, Bass’ mind was spinning with ways to correct their course. They were entering dangerous waters and were at risk of losing everything they’d held near and dear before these weekly trysts began. Bass had come up with only one solution.

“Actually, now is a good time to bring up your assignment for our last week,” Bass announced. He hoped his voice sounded assured, as though this had been his plan all along.

“What do you mean?” Charlie’s confusion and worry were palpable.

“Well this whole thing has been about teaching you to be a better lover, right?” Bass waited for her silent nod in confirmation. “What better way to prove whether our lessons have been successful or not then for you to try them out with someone else?”

Charlie’s face turned unreadable. “You want me to pick up a guy?”

Bass nodded his head affirmatively. Inside a raging monster was screaming **_“No”_** at the mere thought of another man’s hands on Charlie and playing chords of pleasure first discovered by him.

“Yes. You’ll use all those feminine wiles I know you have and then you’ll bring him back here and seduce him,” Bass spoke the bitter words as neutrally as possible. “This will prove to you once and for all that you are not an incompetent lover.”

“Here? You want me to bring him here?” What she was really asking was: _You want me to invite a complete stranger into the safe haven we built?_  

“Why not? It’s already reserved for next week,” Bass countered.

“Why not, indeed?” Charlie choked down a sip of wine. “This was the plan all along?”

“Of course. I can’t keep you locked in this room forever.”

Couldn’t he, though? A lifetime of possibilities flashed through both of them.

“Okay. I’ll do it,” Charlie accepted his gauntlet. “If you’ll excuse me. I drank too much wine.”

Though her face had shuddered before, for the briefest of moments Bass saw past her defenses. What he saw there confirmed two things for him: First, he had successfully nipped in the bud whatever was growing between them.

And the second thing: It had been more than his own heart that he had broken in the process.

**A/N: If you'd be so kind as to leave me a comment I'd really appreciate it. I truly love to hear people's thoughts and feelings about the story. Thanks for reading. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer:  _Revolution_ is not my property. I just took some of their pieces and played. Naughtily. 

**A/N:** This is the last chapter. Or planned chapter. I have another idea that I may write out another chapter. But this was always where I intended the story to end. This is also the chapter that was supposed to make this my entry into the Corn/Porn Thanksgiving 2015 Good Ship Charloe fanfic event. You can see how well I do at posting for events. Sorry this took so long to wrap up. Life and my health took a dramatic turn. Anyway, thank you for sticking with this story and for all the amazing feedback this story has received. I truly pushed myself in writing this so it's been gratifying to see it so richly received. Thanks again! Until we meet again, either here or another story...

* * *

 

Bass’ mind flashed back to the last time he had stood outside a door waiting for Charlie to answer his knock. Four weeks ago he had been determined to reaffirm all the boundaries dividing him and Charlie. This time though he was set on destroying them all. Two weeks ago he had taken the coward’s way out and he had suffered greatly in the time since Charlie had turned away from him.

Guilt had weighed on him and he hadn’t wanted their last moments in their sanctuary to be rejection. Bass had seduced Charlie one more time but for the first time since their experiment had begun Bass finally experienced the coldness Charlie’s other lovers had remarked on. Bass had hurt her and she had withdrawn to protect what was left of her.

She had given him her body but she’d locked away her heart.

Bass found that the pleasure they had experienced together in that room required both.

It had been a bitter end to such a sweet journey. The sour taste had lingered with him for the next seven days until the following Friday night. Then it had been nothing but pain. He had low-key followed Charlie from her office. She had gone to a small bar that played live blues. He wanted to see if she would carry through with her assignment.

He wanted to see if she could do it.

He wanted to see her unable to do it.

His wish was granted, just not the one he needed.

A gentleman a few years older than Charlie, dressed in a nice suit, had approached her table. Bass thought she’d turn him away; it’d floored him when she invited him to join her. That had been nothing to the sledgehammer in his stomach when they’d left the bar together forty-five minutes later. He followed the cab they’d taken to the Waldorf. He was surprised he didn’t bleed to death with the way it felt like he’d been torn open as they passed through the entrance together.

Bass had gone home and consumed the limit on bourbon before a new liver was necessary. He was pissed at himself for letting it get to him. What did he expect? Charlie had approached everything like it was a lesson. Bass had given this as her final assignment. Charlie simply never failed to do her homework.

Furthermore, he probably had made up that moment in the tub in his head.

Regardless he knew that he would never feel about another woman the way that he felt about Charlie. Whether or not the moment was imagined, he had broken whatever spell they had weaved in that room. Their sanctuary had been breached by an outsider.

This misery had been swirling in Bass’ mind for the last thirteen days. At first he had agonized that Charlie wouldn’t do as he told her; then he had agonized over her following his instructions. He had kept trying to remind himself that he had done it to restore the equilibrium between them so things wouldn’t be awkward.

However if the last few hours together celebrating Thanksgiving with their family and friends was any indication: His plan had backfired because he couldn’t be around Charlie without thinking of all they had done together. Or without wondering what she and that man from the bar had done together behind the door of 402. His sanity felt like a dream that was fading away.

It had been the usual Thanksgiving. They were gathered at Miles and Nora’s house. The smell of roasted turkey coupled with warmed apples and spiced pumpkin and all the other delicious scents that accompanied Thanksgiving had permeated the home. There hadn’t been a room that escaped the decadent aromas wafting from the kitchen.

There had also been no room where Bass and Charlie could stand together and not feel a tension between them that hadn’t existed two weeks previously let alone six weeks ago. It wasn’t their fucking that had wrecked everything but their emotions that weren’t supposed to be there. Emotions that Bass feared to tread.

Bass tried to keep his distance from Charlie but it was only a different agony from standing close to her. It all hurt like someone was twirling his guts with a fork. Nevertheless he went through the motions—watching the football game with Miles, rough-housing with Miles and Nora’s children, Analise and Ric, and eating copious amounts of food. Bass worried that the rest of their experiences would feel like this. He wondered how he could possibly endure eventually having to watch Charlie bring someone new—someone permanent—to these family functions. He resigned himself to finding a way to avoid them in the future. The loneliness would surely be easier to live with than the misery of seeing what could have been played out before him.

But then Charlie had given him one moment of hope. Maybe Bass had read too much into the moment, but he didn’t want to think so. It was a tradition that everyone took a turn saying what they were thankful for. When it had come to Charlie’s turn she had said, “I’m thankful for Bass’ help.”

Innocuous words to everyone else at the table. Everyone had assumed it had to do with his recent assistance in finding the culprits responsible of corporate espionage. Charlie hadn’t corrected their assumptions—not even when Rachel had taken it as an opening to belittle Charlie.

“You need to improve your hiring system. Your employees need to be vetted better,” Rachel had chastised.

“Yes, Mom,” Charlie said without quibble. She was clearly used to her mother’s censure.

Suddenly so many pieces fell into place for Bass. That first day in his condo and Charlie said she was used to not being enough. That was a comment about more than just her ex-boyfriends. Charlie has faced that kind of condemnation her entire life no matter how brilliant or lauded she was. Bass had always recognized Rachel’s near constant displeasure in Charlie versus Danny but Charlie never acted as if it bothered her. How completely idiotic for him to think that it would not have an impact on an impressionable child!

No wonder Charlie had focused so hard on her academia because _there_ she was given approval by her teachers and hopefully she would finally do something to appease her mother. Within the classroom there were parameters that she could follow that would dictate whether she was successful or not. Impartial judgement. As a child, Charlie had always adored hanging out with Miles—because she got to be a kid. She never ever had to worry about disappointing Miles because he cheered everything she did—even sneaking food to the animals in the zoo. Miles was her safe place. By proxy, Bass had been her safe place too; simply because he was often around Miles when Charlie was there.

Then grown-up Charlie was faced with a series of disappointed exes who made her believe the relationship failed because of her alone. She made it a lesson to be taught. Then she’d gone to the safest place she could find to protect not just her dignity but her heart. And Bass had foolishly broken it because he was too scared of what it meant.

But Charlie being thankful for his help felt like a second chance. Maybe she did mean it only in regards to her company; but there was always the possibility she meant more than that. Bass needed to be brave enough to reach for it and hold on this time. He doubted very much Charlie would be foolish enough to give him unlimited chances.

The first step to being worthy of Charlotte was proving to her that no one could treat her this way anymore.

“Actually, Charlie’s vetting process was very thorough. I looked over those initial reports while investigating and there was nothing in their background to suggest they could be bought off,” Bass had immediately corrected Rachel at the dinner table. “Sometimes we are just disappointed by the people in our lives.” The look he gave Rachel had been very pointed.

The tension in the room could have been carved as easily as the turkey in the center of the table.

Miles had broken it with a proclamation to dig into the food because there wasn’t enough room in the refrigerator for all the food still on the table.

The second thing he needed to do to prove he was worthy of Charlie was why he now waited outside her loft. Charlie answered the door. She appeared surprised to see Bass at her doorstep. “Bass?”

“I need to see you,” Bass said. “May I come in?”

Charlie moved aside to let him into her home. She had a top level loft. It was all wide open space, no walls separating the rooms. The colors were all soft and neutral. On a first look it would almost seem impersonal but Bass understood Charlie far better than he ever had before. He imagined that she liked the space because her mind was constantly cluttered, busy with one thought upon another about all manner of things. The softness of the decor was probably soothing for a mind that rarely took a break.

She had changed out of her red cocktail dress and heels into comfortable yoga pants and an MIT t-shirt. Her feet were bare but her toes were painted a lush red. She was still unbearably beautiful and attractive to Bass. He recognized her hesitancy towards him. She wasn’t sure what to expect from his visit.

“Can I get you anything?” Charlie asked as they walked deeper into her home.

“God, no. I’m just starting to breathe after that feast,” Bass said. The truth was that his nerves were making his stomach queasy and he wasn’t sure if he could keep what he’d eaten down. Especially if this all went to shit.

“Okay. Shall we sit down?” Charlie suggested and pointed to her long cream colored sofa.

Bass shook his head. He didn’t want to suffer through small talk. He needed to get the words out. If Charlie rejected him—and he knew she had every right to after the deplorable way he had behaved two weeks previously—he wanted to be able to beat a hasty retreat. “Did you mean what you said at dinner?”

He watched her struggle with pretending she didn’t know what he was referring to. But honesty always won with Charlie. She gave a wordless nod to her head.

“In that case I want to expound upon what I said earlier,” Bass said. When it had been his turn Bass had simply said he was thankful for the family in this room. His holidays wouldn’t be the same otherwise. In a rare show of sympathy instead of derision, Miles had given a consolatory pat on Bass’ shoulder to let him know he wasn’t the only one who missed Bass’ parents and sisters. Then Miles had followed that up by declaring he was thankful for his family and whiskey (and it probably wasn’t in that order).

“I am entirely grateful for everyone at that table. Well, except your mother, for reasons. But regardless, without each of you I would have no family and that is important to me. I would spend all my holidays and birthdays alone. After losing my family, I’m hesitant to do anything to lose the only remaining family I have,” Bass elaborated.

Charlie nodded her head again. “I understand, Bass.”

“Because of that fear I did something so incredibly stupid. This should come as no surprise as you are far smarter than me. But the worst thing I did was hurt you in the process,” Bass admitted.

“Bass, you don’t have to say this. It’s okay.”

Bass shook his head, cutting her off. “No. I do. Because I felt something for you. I _feel_ something for you,” Bass corrected himself. “But that wasn’t supposed to happen. Yet it did. We connected. I know you felt it too. And because you are the most fearless person I know you were willing to take that leap but I wasn’t and I hurt you. I hurt myself.”

Bass closed the distance between them a little more. “It’s true that I am incredibly thankful for everyone at that table. But I’m most grateful for you, Charlie, because you changed my life. I mean, if you want to anyway.”

“What are you saying Bass?” Charlie asked. She tilted her head and squinted her blue eyes at him as if he was a creature in one of her labs that just did something unexpected.

“I’m saying that I care about you. In ways I didn’t know was possible because, frankly, I never let my mind go in that direction. But after everything that we shared...you are important to me. _You_ are important, Charlie. I’d really like to see where this thing between us leads if you are willing,” Bass admitted.

“But you told me to sleep with someone else,” Charlie reminded him.

Bass winced at the reminder and the images that flashed in his head upon her words. “I know. I hate knowing you did that, Charlie, but I have no one to blame for that misery but myself. I thought I was doing us a favor—that it would restore the balance between us. But it didn’t work.”

“I didn’t do it,” Charlie admitted.

Bass’ eyes snapped open. “I saw you. You met a guy at a bar and took him back to the Waldorf.”

Charlie sighed. “I did go to a bar. You had, in fact, given me an assignment. I’m not inclined to failure. But I couldn’t do it. I knew you were following me, by the way. I know you were in the bar. Yes, I met a guy and we talked. He was in town on business and staying at the hotel. We shared a cab back to the hotel and a nightcap in the bar before we went to our separate rooms. I never slept with him. In fact, I couldn’t even sleep in that room without you. I just came home.”

“Thank You God,” Bass muttered with profound reverence. He closed the last bit of distance between them and took Charlie’s face in his hands. “It was killing me this last week thinking that another man touched you and gave you pleasure and went into that room with you.”

“I’ve never failed a homework assignment before,” Charlie admitted.

“You didn’t fail, Charlie. I failed you,” Bass corrected. “And you were teaching me too. I’d long since given up on feeling any connection with someone else because all I’ve ever been was disappointed. You taught me that isn’t always the case.”

“Kiss me,” Charlie demanded and Bass obeyed eagerly.

The touch and taste of Charlie on Bass’ lips was nirvana after his self-imposed hell. But it wasn’t enough just to kiss her he needed to _feel_ her. One hand held the back of her head while his other kept moving across her luscious curves. The kiss was heat but it was also passion. Finally they were both unlocking the emotions they had worked to keep out of their time together in room 402.

As they kissed, Charlie led them backwards to her bedroom. They stumbled a bit on the stairs but Bass lifted Charlie up and walked up the steps with her legs wrapped around his torso. He remembered which one was her room because he and Miles had helped her move in. He brushed the light switch as he entered the room.

Charlie pulled away, gasping for breath. “The bag with the toys is in the closet,” she told him.

Bass nipped at her bottom lip, swollen from their kisses. “Good to know. But we don’t need the toys, Charlie. I just want you this time. Just you.”

“Just me,” Charlie said. “Just you.”

Bass bent over the bed and gingerly placed Charlie on her green bedspread. She’d clearly been curled up in here when he had knocked at her door. Probably watching TV or looking at her tablet. The image of Charlie in such a simple and domestic moment did not cool his fire for her. It only made him want her more because he wanted those moments now. He wanted them in a way he had never had in his life. There was something alluring in that newness.

Bass’ fingers danced beneath the hem of her old MIT t-shirt. He pulled it up exposing her toned stomach. He licked the exposed flesh and flicked his tongue into her belly button. Bass delighted in watching her stomach muscles clench at his first touch. It was a relief to know that he truly wasn’t the only one affected by the other. Like a man slowly unwrapping a long awaited present—not just any present but the one you wanted your whole life—he slowly pulled her shirt further up and relished in the view. Charlie didn’t have a bra on which meant her supple breasts were without obstacle. Her nipples were already hardened peaks from her arousal. He could smell it on her; he knew when he pulled off her yoga pants he’d find her dripping wet. He licked his lips at the thought of tasting her.

Suddenly Bass couldn’t do slow anymore. It had been nearly fourteen days since he’d been with Charlie, buried so deep in her he forgot himself. He pulled her shirt off her and threw it somewhere on the bed. His fingers skated across her flesh and cupped her perfect breasts; he took one into his mouth and sucked it, nipped it and then ran the flat of his tongue across the teased peak. Then he gave the other breast the same attention. The whole time he would grind his pelvis into Charlie’s, who would writhe beneath him craving the friction.

“No more teasing, Bass,” Charlie begged. “I need to feel you.”

Her hands came around and pulled his dark gray sweater over his head so she could feel his naked body beneath her own hands. Her words sent spikes of pleasure down his spine. How in the world anyone ever found her cold in bed was beyond him. She was a livewire; she was passion.

She was his.

Charlie pushed up on his torso and he pulled back from her. She used the space to move up to explore his torso. As she licked and nipped her way across his abdomen, Bass felt like she was marking her own territory this time.

He was hers too.

She scratched her nails across his sensitive flesh, making muscles tremble. Charlie deftly undid his belt and his trousers and wasted no time pushing them and his briefs off his hips. Bass’ body arched when Charlie dug into his ass pulling him closer to her. Charlie maneuvered quickly and Bass barely managed to inhale before the feel of Charlie’s lips on his throbbing cock stole all his air. He gulped when he felt Charlie take him deep into her mouth but when he felt her throat muscles massage his aching tip he lost all brain capacity.

He was nothing more than this moment and this sensation: Charlie’s head moving up and down on his weeping dick, her hand cupping his heavy ball sacs sending lightning up his spine, while her other hand dug into his ass. His life had been reduced to this. It was heaven on earth.

He got enough wits about him to warn Charlie he was going to come but she didn’t heed his warning. Just took him deep again and contracted her throat around him as she swallowed his release, the sensation milking his orgasm further. After, Charlie slowly let him out of her mouth, licking the underside of his cock the entire way with the flat of her tongue. She licked his tip clean and then smiled up at him coyly.

“What have I got myself into?” Bass muttered without any real regret. “My turn for fun now.”

The light that came into Charlie’s eyes slowed Bass’ movement down. He wanted to stretch out her pleasure a little. Peeling her yoga pants down one achingly slow inch at a time Bass also discovered that Charlie was commando. Her glistening pussy was bare for him to see. The scent of arousal hit him doubly strong and Bass could already feel himself getting hard again.

He could not resist and leaned down and ran his tongue across her folds, swallowing her juices like a man dying of thirst. Bass started with soft sips before surrendering to the need. He brushed her hardened clit with his fingers while his tongue pierced her slit over and over again, imbibing an elixir solely of Charlie. He refrained from slipping his fingers into her dripping core, settling on just stimulating her nerve bundle. Bass felt the tremors through Charlie’s abdomen before she ever cried out that she was coming.

He already knew so many beats of her sensuality. Bass vowed to make himself the only pilgrim of all her pleasure; mapping out all her wants and desires and tracing all her boundary lines because he never wanted to do anything she didn’t like. In so short a time, his pleasure was linked to hers. Charlie’s climax coupled with the heady taste of her sweetness on his tongue hardened Bass once again.

He crawled up her body and she raised her arms out to accept him into her arms, into her body. Both of them held on tightly to each other, never breaking eye contact, as Bass slid back inside of her. It felt like home. Charlie was where he was always meant to be.

They’ve fucked each other plenty. But they’ve only made love once. The entire time Bass had been terrified of the reality. Now he gloried in it. Every slow, languid movement of his hips was both heaven and hell. Nothing could ever beat being wrapped around Charlie’s wet heat and Bass hated to rush the experience. But damn it if he didn’t love watching Charlie climax—thinking about it nearly pushed him over the edge.

“More, Bass,” Charlie whimpered.

“I want to take my time with you, Charlie,” Bass told her. But he did increase the tempo of his thrusts a little to soothe her.

Charlie’s hands grasped his face and pulled him down so she could brush her lips across his before pulling his lower lip into her mouth to softly bite down on it. “We have all night long for slow. But please fuck me harder. Now.”

Charlie quickly wrapped her legs around his torso, changing the angle of his penetration. Then she clenched her muscles around him. Dirty tricks, Bass thought, because she knew he couldn’t resist the pull of touching her deeper. He grabbed her hands and held them over her head with his own and began to pump stronger into her. Her pussy got even slicker with her desire. Every one of his downward thrusts slammed into her clit and his balls slapped her ass.

Bass held both her hands in one of his and moved the other to take her nipple in between his forefinger and thumb to roll it before squeezing gently on the hard tip. Charlie tightened all around him. Her legs gripped his body harder while her inner muscles clenched hard around his cock. It made it hard for him to move in her but he kept pumping through her orgasm until he reached his own and spilled deep inside her core.

Blinded by his orgasm, Bass collapsed onto Charlie and took a couple of minutes to return to his senses. Once he did he pulled himself off her and pulled her into body.

“I’m pretty sure I could record the sound of our hearts pounding right now,” Charlie panted.

“Music to my ears,” Bass told her and kissed her until she was breathless.

* * *

 

**A/N:** The End. For now. Probably. Maybe. I don't know. I may come back to visit once and awhile. Be a dear and leave me your thoughts. Thanks for reading. :) 


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